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(Article XXI of the Tax Reform Code of 1971, Act of March 4, 1971, P.L. 6, No. 2, added by Act of Aug. 4, 1991, P.L. 97, No. 22, as amended.)
___This part shall be known and may be cited as the "Uniform Act on Interstate Compromise and Arbitration of Inheritance Taxes."
___When the department or the register claims a decedent was domiciled in this Commonwealth at the time of his death and the taxing authority of another state makes a like claim on behalf of its state, the department may, with the approval of the Attorney General, make a written agreement of compromise with the other taxing authority and the executor or administrator of the decedent that a certain sum shall be accepted in full satisfaction of any and all inheritance taxes imposed by this Commonwealth, including any interest or penalties to the date of signing the agreement. The agreement shall also fix the amount to be accepted by the other state in full satisfaction of inheritance taxes. The executor or administrator of the decedent is authorized to make the agreement. The agreement shall conclusively fix the amount of tax payable to the Commonwealth without regard to any other provision of the laws of this Commonwealth. Unless the tax agreed upon is paid within sixty days after the signing of the agreement, interest or penalties shall accrue upon the amount fixed in the agreement, but the time between the decedent's death and the signing of the agreement shall not be included in computing the interest or penalties. In the event the aggregate amount payable under the agreement to the states involved is less than the maximum credit allowable to the estate against the Federal estate tax imposed with respect to the estate, the personal representatives shall also pay to the department so much of the difference between the aggregate amount and the amount of such credit as the amount payable to the department under the agreement bears to the aggregate amount. A copy of the agreement shall be filed in the office of the proper register, and any existing appraisement shall be deemed modified according to the agreement. In the event no appraisement has been made and filed prior to the agreement, the department shall direct an appraisement to be made and filed in the office of the proper register in accordance with the agreement.
___When the department or the register claims that a decedent was domiciled in this Commonwealth at the time of his death and the taxing authority of another state makes a like claim on behalf of its state, the department may, with the approval of the Attorney General, make a written agreement with the other taxing authority and with the executor or administrator of the decedent to submit the controversy to the decision of a board consisting of one or any uneven number of arbitrators. The executor or administrator of the decedent is authorized to make the agreement. The parties to the agreement shall select the arbitrator or arbitrators.
___(a) The board shall have the power to administer oaths, take testimony, subpoena and require the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers and documents and issue commissions to take testimony. Subpoenas may be signed by any member of the board. In case of failure to obey a subpoena, any judge of a court of record of this Commonwealth, upon application by the board, may make an order requiring compliance with the subpoena, and the court may punish failure to obey the order as a contempt.
___(b) The board shall hold hearings at a time and place it may determine, upon reasonable notice to the parties to the agreement, all of whom shall be entitled to be heard, to present evidence and to examine and cross-examine witnesses.
___(c) Except as provided in subsection (a) in respect to the issuance of subpoenas, all questions arising in the course of the proceedings shall be determined by a majority vote of the board.
___(d) The board shall, by a majority vote, determine the domicile of the decedent at the time of his death. This determination shall be final for the purpose of imposing and collecting inheritance taxes but for no other purpose.
___(e) The compensation and expenses of the members of the board and its employees may be agreed upon among the members and the executor or administrator and, if they cannot agree, shall be fixed by any court having jurisdiction over probate matters of the State determined by the board to be the domicile of the decedent. The amounts so agreed upon or fixed shall be deemed an administration expense and shall be payable by the executor or administrator.
___The department, register or board, or the executor or administrator of the decedent, shall file the determination of the board as to domicile, the record of the board's proceedings and the agreement, or a duplicate, made pursuant to section 2158 with the authority having jurisdiction to assess or determine the inheritance taxes in the State determined by the board to be the domicile of the decedent and shall file copies of the documents with the authorities that would have been empowered to assess or determine the inheritance taxes in each of the other states involved.
___In any case where it is determined by the board that the decedent died domiciled in this Commonwealth, interest or penalties, if otherwise imposed by law, for nonpayment of inheritance taxes between the date of the agreement and of filing of the determination of the board as to domicile shall not exceed the rate provided for in section 2143.
___The provisions of this part shall not prevent at any time a written compromise, if otherwise lawful, by all parties to the agreement made pursuant to section 2157, fixing the amounts to be accepted by this Commonwealth and any other state involved in full satisfaction of inheritance taxes.
___The provisions of this part relative to arbitration shall apply only to cases in which and so far as each of the states involved has a law identical or substantially similar to this part.
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